Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held their weekly sale of prime stock on Thursday 25th May 2023. Forward were 163 Cattle, 956 Sheep and 9 Pigs.
52 Prime Bulls sold to 325ppk or £2619
20 Prime Steers sold to 324ppk or £2060
91 Prime Heifers sold to 348ppk or £2056
532 New Season Lambs sold to 440ppk or £198
210 Prime Hoggs sold to 343ppk or £185
214 Cast Ewes & Rams sold to £200
9 Prime Pigs sold to 190ppk or £144
Prime Bulls (52) – A light show as the bull beef remains in short supply, trade bounds along very nicely as the sale averaged a superb 284ppk and £1917 per head. Raiders from the West Messrs T N & J Hall of Ainstable Hall, Carlisle deservedly enjoyed the trade of the day with a magnificent run of home bred bulls; it was their British Blue’s which set the pace topping the pence per kilo at 325 and also the pounds per head with a different bull at £2619. Almost half of the bulls forward sold over £2000 with a super seventeen the top side of 300 pence per kilo. The outstanding feeding of R Hall & Son, Kilton Hall, Brotton topped the Friesian’s for the umpteenth time when peaking at 243ppk and £1674. Below are some of the day’s top pen averages.
T N & J Hall, Ainstable sold 6 to average 318ppk and £2290
W & M Knaggs & Son, Sadberge sold 2 to average 308ppk and £2092
A G Watson & Sons, Rushyford sold 4 to average 302ppk and £2255
L R Welsh & Co, Spennymoor sold 4 to average 299ppk and £2037
J K & C E Farming, Piercebridge sold 2 to average 298ppk and £2174
Continental Bulls – Top prices ppk 325 324 321 319 310 309 TN&J Hall. 322 TM&A Bellas & Son. 319 302 292 287 283 280 AS&SM Kemp. 317 299 296 284 LR Welsh & Co. 314 312 310 275 AG Watson & Sons. 313 304 W&M Knaggs & Son. 313 285 JK&CE Farming. 302 JJ Horn. 294 WE Frank & Son. 286 276 275 TF Bothroyd & Son. 286 284 280 GH Farms Ltd. 278 268 JC&P Tallentire.
Lead Grossing Continental Bulls £2619 £2518 £2488 £2166 £2047 £1903 TN&J Hall. £2398 £2290 £2286 £2043 AG Watson & Sons. £2394 JJ Horn. £2256 £2091 JK&CE Farming. £2186 TM&A Bellas & Son. £2181 £2003 W&M Knaggs & Son. £2153 £2126 £2064 £2019 £1816 AS&SM Kemp. £2125 £2120 £2027 £1874 LR Welsh & Co. £2118 £2031 £1820 Skelton Farming Ltd. £1955 WE Frank & Son. £1859 £1803 GH Farms Ltd.
Friesian Bulls – Top prices ppk 243 230 R Hall & Son.
Lead Grossing Friesian Bulls £1674 £1564 R Hall & Son.
Native Bulls – Top prices ppk 270 269 264 260 SN Bird & Sons. 210 R Hall & Son.
Lead Grossing Native Bulls £1789 £1783£1673 £1657 SN Bird & Sons. £1184 R Hall & Son.
Clean Cattle (111) – With the grass harvest ongoing just a few less forward, the very top end butcher’s beast look perhaps a shade easier however the R grades are noticeably dearer on the week. A fair proportion of native and dairy crosses throughout still averaged a pleasing 299ppk for heifers and 276ppk for steers. More success for the Hall’s of Ainstable Hall as our Cumbrian challengers topped the prices per kilo with a super sweet Limousin heifer reaching 348 pence; another from the same good home sold for 244ppk with regular sellers the Hirst’s and the Hodgson’s the best of a tight knit chasing peloton containing eighteen heifers in the 330’s. Brilliant British Blonde’s from the superb W J Scott Ltd, Low Leam Farm dominated the steer prices as they twice sold over 320ppk and four times beyond £2000. Five heifers sold over £2000 as the aforementioned pairing of R Hirst, Neasham Grange and J V & J A Hodgson, The Grange battled for heifer supremacy, the Hodgson’s came out narrow victors today with a cracking 614kg Limousin reaching £2056. See below some impressive returns on this week’s leader board.
Heifers
T N & J Hall, Ainstable sold 6 to average 338ppk and £1686
P Weightman & Sons, Easington sold 2 to average 330ppk and £1929
R Hirst, Neasham sold 10 to average 329ppk and £1953
J V & J A Hodgson, Summerhouse sold 15 to average 321ppk and £1898
W J Scott Ltd, West Woodburn sold 4 to average 320ppk and £1918
P J & M P Gilhespy, Ponteland sold 4 to average 318ppk and £1802
C Binks & Son, Walworth sold 2 to average 311ppk and £1684
Steers
W J Scott Ltd, West Woodburn sold 6 to average 314ppk and £1997
P J & M P Gilhespy, Ponteland sold 2 to average 299ppk and £1818
J E Suddes & Son, Cornsay Colliery sold 2 to average 297ppk and £1778
Steers – Top prices ppk 324 323 318 314 310 298 WJ Scott Ltd. 309 290 PJ&MP Gilhespy. 299 297 JE Suddes. 262 231 TN Hodgson & Sons. 257 GW&L Marsay. 257 255 247×2 240 AJ Marr & Son.
Lead Grossing Steers £2060 32047 £2006 £2000 £1947 £1922 WJ Scott Ltd. £1853 £1700 £1658 TN Hodgson & Sons. £1853 £1704 JE Suddes & Son. £1838 £1798 PJ&MP Gilhespy. £1563 £1523 £1518 £1464 £1447 AJ Marr & Son.
Heifers – Top prices ppk 348 344 337 335×2 332 TN&J Hall. 339×2 338 337 336 334 326 325 314 313 R Hirst. 339 335×2 333 328 326×2 320 319×2 312×2 310 309 JV&JA Hodgson. 338 337 307 304 WF Hustwit. 337 329 322 WJ Scott Ltd. 337 325 P Weightman & Sons. 327 JE Suddes & Son. 326 323 315 311 PJ&MP Gilhespy. 318 306 C Binks & Son. 312 306 302 RA&BA Ridley & Son Ltd. 308 J Henderson. 308 GW&L Marsay.
Lead Grossing Heifers £2056 £2011 £1954 £1949 £1939 £1932 £1920 £1904 £1891 JV&JA Hodgson. £2036 £2020 £2017 £1995 £1969 £1928 £1924 £1893 £1884 R Hirst. £1971 £189 6£1847 £1844 £1824 £1823 £1805 WF Hustwit. £1964 £1927 £1915 £1866 WJ Scott Ltd. £1954 £1904 P Weightman & Sons. £1952 ££1884 £1881 £1861 RA&BA Ridley & Son Ltd. £1873 JE Suddes & Son. £1860 £1812 PJ&MP Gilhespy. £1825 TN&J Hall.
News Season Lambs (532) – Forward come the springers and on this fast trade the rewards for early lambing are significant, a nice show with an excellent top end weighed absolutely straight averaged 358ppk. Over 100 lambs sold over £170 and the top 92 sold over 400 pence per kilo. Top of the list was a superb single Texel lamb from I Burn & Sons, Grange House Farm, Stamfordham which sold to Yorkshire Halal for £198. No luck for J C Simpson, Caldwell it seems as for the second week running the runners up came from this good home, a fine half a dozen weighing 46kg sold to Roots Farm Shop, East Rounton for £193, fifty-five Caldwell crackers today averaged £178. A quality quartet of 40kg lambs belonging to the Tindale’s of Paradise Farm, Shadforth sold for 437ppk (£175) and in doing so took the second top price per kilo of the day. Lambs bred from Mule’s are now appearing with 150 included today selling to a top of £155 for super Suffolk’s from J W & D W Laing, East Grange Farm.
Lambs – Top prices ppk 440 409 364 359 I Burn & Sons. 437 417 395 390×2 360 P Tindale. 429 375 367 357 BR&R Routledge. 426×2 419 418 412 411 391 JC Simpson. 421 395 387 I Hedley. 417 K&PM Lough. 414 407 395 383 375 358 W&M Knaggs & Son. 404 381 372 W Lewis & Sons. 402 400 357 351 AS&G Donaldson. 395 356 RI Jones. 393 C Moralee & Sons. 384 M&A Gaskin. 383 377 357 B Fisk. 372 360 A&AG Donaldson. 354 T Lawson & Son. 352 351 TW Clark & Son.
Lead Grossing Lambs £198 £176 £175 £158 £155.50 I Burn & Sons. £193 £184×2 £179×2 £173 £169 JC Simpson. £177 £170 £159 I Hedley. £176 £150.50 £150×2 BR&R Routledge. £175 £167 £158 £156×2 P Tindale. £175 £174 £170 £165 £154×2 W&M Knaggs & Son. £175 £170 £168 W Lewis & Sons. £174 £171 £155 £151×2 TW Clark. £173 £160 £146.50×2 £144 AS&G Donaldson. £173 £161 M&A Gaskin. £171 K&PM Lough. £171 T Lawson & Son. £170 RI Jones. £170 £169 C Moralee & Sons. £161 B Fisk. £160 A&EJ Donaldson.
Prime Hoggs (210) – A very light offering as those with hoggs now see Qurbani appearing on the horizon and sit tight. Trade again good with better bred and better fed sorts very easy to sell. For the second week running the Callender family of Ox Eye Farm, Whinney Hill led the pence per kilo with their superb Beltex when ten crackers weighing 42kg sold for 343 pence (£144). Top gross value went to a proper fed pen of eight 55kg hoggs from A C Simpson & Son, McNeil Farm, Witton-le-Wear which reached £185; the last of another brilliant batch from McNeil saw Simmo sign of the season on top.
Hoggs – Top prices ppk 342 333 323 318 311 284 TN Callender. 340 338 336 309 307 300 275 260 255 219 AC Simpson & Son. 333 326 293 287 272×2 AS Whitfield. 316 311 286 Ainsty Farms. 297 295 278 270 262 HE Jewitt. 295 229 MB Scott. 285 222 C Binks & Son. 277 238 R Worthy. 257 C Moralee & Sons. 253 224 T Lawson & Son. 243 217 W Tyreman & Sons. 241 W Lewis & Sons.
Lead Grossing Hoggs £185 £180 £170×2 £160×2 £150 £149 £140 £114 AC Simpson & Son. £180 £160×2 £150 £135×2 AS Whitfield. £175 C Moralee & Sons. £160 C Binks & Son. £155 £142 T Lawson & Son. £152 £134 £133 Ainsty Farms. £150 £100 R Worthy. £144 £140×2 £136 £125 TN Callender. £142 MB Scott. £135 W Lewis & Sons. £134 £130×2 HE Jewitt.
Cast Ewes & Rams (214) – As with the hoggs, few came forward as mid-June looks set to be the time when demand is highest. Trade marginally easier however a good show left a non-too shabby sale average of £108. Top of the pile was a superb Texel ewe from W & M Knaggs & Son, Sadberge when she sold for £200.
Lead Grossing Cast Sheep – £200 £170 £167 £155 £153 £152 £148 £136 £130 W&M Knaggs & Son. £148 C Moralee & Sons. £148 £128 I Hedley. £145 x2 £130 £100 IM Maughan. £141 I Spedding. £140 £124 x2 £119 £100 K&PM Lough. £140 £109 K Hall. £140 £104 R Valks. £135 £120 x2 I Burn & Sons. £135 £129 £106 A&EJ Dobinson. £135 £83 x2 R Worthy. £131 x2 £130 £120 x2 £100 £84 BR&RI Routledge. £130 JG Atkinson. £120 JR Wilson & Son. £112 Anthony Tindale. £110 W Tyreman & Sons. £110 F Kearton. £95 BG Dale. £93 S Pybourne. £88 GA&J Allison.
Prime Pigs (9) – Pigs are making a remarkable shift away from being our least favourite creatures here in DfAM. Top of todays most hated list is definitely the (previously believed to be harmless) chicken as one suicidal bird travelled here stuck firmly in the grill of my car this morning, last week a brother of Bambi viciously attacked another employee’s vehicle. The funeral of the unfortunate chicken will be held next week, family flowers only, donations to Drive Vauxhall, Stockton-on-Tees.
Pigs – Top prices ppk 190 150 130 C Weightman.
Lead Grossing Pigs £144 £102 £94 C Weightman.
